Rain Scald, is this normal?!

Troggy

Troggy

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Hi

Toffee has rain scald for the first time, it seems to have started since she injured her eye and was a bit run down and is on her stifle/hip/flank area on the near side.
Originally the vet said try Coatex (she was already on antibiotics for her eye at this point) but after two weeks, this didn't help and also it begain to leak serum, so we moved onto different antibitoics (eye healed now) and Malaseb shampoo. The scabs have stopped leaking and seems to be less "scabby" if that makes sense but there seems to be more lumps and they are spreading
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When I wash her I make sure she is bone dry before putting a rug on (a towel and a hair dryer!!
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).

Is this normal progression for them to be clearing up? How logn would this sort of thing take? She has suffered from lymphangitis in the past, twice in this area so could this be linked? In both those cases she suffered from leaking serum.

Any ideas? I am waiting for a call back from the vet but wondered if anyone had any experience/advice? In herself she seems ok but is slightly quiter than normal

Thanks
 
Rain scald is caused by the same bacteria as mud fever. Therefore shoudl really be treated in the same way, which is what your vet is trying with teh coatex and malaseb. however, are you picking off the scabs prior to washing? As the bacteria is under the scabs where its nice and dry and coasy no matter how many times you wash her.

It is a bugger of a thing (like mud fever) and spreads rapidly!
Hopefully you will get it sorted and it will clear up. My yard manager has a horse that I ride that has mud fever and she didnt want to shell out for coatex or malaseb but had some AB powder in her medicine draw and made a paste from it and after picking off the scabs, washing the area and drying it, then applied the paste to all the effected area. It is now 2 weeks later and it is almost 100% normal again, so this may be worth asking your vet about?

sorry there are no miracle cures for this annoying infection!
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Can you keep her in??

It's a bugger once it starts, and the only way to affectively get rid of it is to have the horse totally dry 100% of the time, no rug, and topical treatment daily.


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As long as you are getting rid of all the scabs like Lucy said and if possible keep dry and unrugged when indoors the bacteria like a warm moist envirnonment and chance of leaving a rug off if rugged and up the feed a bit? My mare had is very bad as a foal and still to this day suffers with sweet itch during the summer and rain scold during the winter!

Also if your horse does get wet don't be tempted to put a rug on before he/she is dry as this will make matters worse.
 
Mine had this all over her shoulder 2 summers ago, due to a weak immune system (age). Hibiscub, Malaseb and a 7 day course of antibiotics all failed to get rid of it. In the end, I applied aloe vera gel to it twice daily and it resolved in about 3 weeks. Not sure if it was the gel, or just her immune system kicking back in, but it never came back.
 
If it's slow to clear, it's quite safe to mix up a capful or 2 of Hibiscrub in a cupful of warm water and rub it gently but well into the hair and skin (after the scab picking) and leave it there. Let it dry then rug up as normal.
 
Thank you all for your responses. I think it is linked with a weak immune system, whenever she has any infection it does take ages to shift, possibly linked to her age (19)?
Will carry on with the shampoo etc. She's clipped so not sure if she would be ok to leave unrugged but will try we have any milder spells! Although the area with the rain scald isn't clipped, would it help if it was?
I haven't been picking the scabs off as she is rather handy with her back legs but will do my best with any ones that are a bit loose!
Thanks again
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Its a bugger if they are handy with their back legs, but unfortunatly if you dont get the scabs off it wont get better!! as I say the bacteria is underneath them, so the treatment wont get them if you don't expose them

clipping that area will take most of the scabs off however! So If you would be happy to clip the area then do it and wash with malaseb etc straight away!

19 is not too old so her immune system, although not as good as when she was 4! will not be so bad that she cant get rid of a bit of dermatophilus!
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Just keep picking and washing! sorry its long winded and naf but it will pay off in the end!
 
A long shot and I did not think of this but when my mare fractured her skull I got in touch with a homopathic (spell?) vet in Aus. It was a real leap of faith and she sent me something called scar heal it was fabulous my mare did not scar at all and I did not get any white hairs. All her medicines are based on symptoms perhaps something for the immune system or the lumps themselves.

Not sure whether this was the experience of the surgeon but my mare really healed well and quick. Worth a try I am going to have a go myself.
 
I had a chestnut mare with horrible rainscald, used a variety of treatments on her, hibiscrub every third day left on for 5 mins then washed off and dried well, gently removing the scabs found a soft rubber bobbled mitt which I found in a local tack shop which she would tolerate gentle rubbing to loosen the scabs. Also contacted Global Herbs used several of their products eventually got on top of it and kept it at bay.

Every horse is different and responds to different treatment
 
Initially the rain scald is a fungus so you need to kill this before the lumps will stop spreading.

Try this

Have you tried using Nizeral yet?

It is a human anti dandruff shampoo that contains Ketaconisol - you will need to buy it from the chemist and not mention that it is for your horse. UK chemists seem very funny about us using it on our horses! In NZ we have free access to it from the chemist.

Dilute 1:10, shampoo to Hot water.
Lather up well using a face cloth, make sure that you wash the area beyond the current patches. The shampoo seems to melt the scabs and they come off really easily without making the skin bleed. There is no need to rinse out. Repeat daily till all scabs have gone.

I would love some photos of before and after and the time it took. Maybe a photo diary.

I have been using this very successfully for several years now on a large number of horses, I work in the racing industry here.

Nizeral works just as well on mudfever, greasy heel and rain scald - I use it on my foals, and don't rinse out.

In addition feeding a supplement containing copper and zinc is a great preventative.
This is a recipe that we have in NZ and Australia - known as the Pat Coleby Mix

Mix together
500 grams Dolomite

80 grams Copper Sulphate

80 grams of milling Sulphur

80 grams of Seaweed Meal (Urea free)

Feed 1 level Tablespoon daily

Good luck with treating your horse
 
Tnavas, we have been through all this before. Rainscald is caused by a bacteria.
I really think you must have a vested interest in this shampoo company.
 
No vested interest in the shampoo company - just amazing success with the treatment of mudfever et al!

I do realise that it is believed to be bacterial BUT - the fungus comes first and weakens the skin!
 
Sorry to bump this up again but need a few more ideas!

Now we have this Arctic (well it feels like it!) weather, I have no running water in the yard and even the kettle is struggling, so washing with Malaseb has been put on hold, plus, don't want yard covered in water or the pony freezing! Any ideas on what can help in the meant time? Nothing seems to have changed yet...
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I have Hibiscrub and Wonder Gel, would any of these help until I can shampoo again or is it best left alone? Is there anything else that doesn't need washing off that I can use?

Thanks
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